Frozen, certainly, which not only represents a massively successful Disney film, but perhaps the movie with the widest cultural impact of the 21st Century so far. And I'm aware that's probably both shocking and slightly depressing to a lot of people, but not since The Matrix, or perhaps shockingly, even Star Wars in 1977, that there's been a movie with such a wide cultural impact (perhaps there's an argument for The Dark Knight, but that might be a blog for another day). That film is everywhere. Awards ceremonies for live performances, X-Factor song auditions, it's on the radio, it's in every toy shop, there's t-shirts and furniture, internet memes and cosplay and long running jokes and just about everything you can imagine. Of course, having a popular soundtrack helps, but I struggle to think of a film that made it quite so far in to every aspect of the public consciousness.
Being generous, in comparison, the response to Tangled was mostly surprise that it didn't suck. At that point, nobody thought much of the in-house Disney productions, with a long run of average movies under its belt, and its last attempt to return to classical animation in The Princess and the Frog a commercial disappointment, and at least a slight critical one. But it kick started what a lot of people now call the Disney Renaissance (a name also given to the time in the late 80s and early 90s when Disney movies were doing fantastically) in that the recent slew of Disney movies have been considered pretty good films. (That being Tangled, Wreck-It-Ralph, Frozen and now Big Hero 6).
The question here though is, separated from all the hype, which is actually the better movie? Personally, I don't think it's as clear cut as their popularity makes out. And yes, I am aware it's odd to be looking at Disney movies in this level of detail, but this is what married life has done to me.
On the surface, I'd actually go with the crowd on this one. Frozen has an awful lot to like about it. Stepping away from the songs that have had such a large part in making the film famous, as the quality of songs in a film isn't something I personally look at, it's a film with a reasonable solid plot, two strong, likeable female protagonists, some impressive visuals and a nice simple story that children can enjoy but that resonates on a deeper level for those older.
There's an awful lot out there on how you can describe Elsa's powers as a metaphor for everything from discovering your sexuality to representing her first period to being her coming out as gay, and since Frozen probably has more words written on it than the Bible at this point in time, I won't bother to repeat the discussions, apart from to say they are actually all legitimate readings. I see where people are coming from, and that immediately gives the film a deeper resonance with a lot of people. (It also explains why Elsa is such a popular character, despite, in my opinion, being the most boring character in the film, as I'll go on to explain later on).
But on top of that, it has a heroine who is proactive and heroic, but allowed to be goofy and funny. Who tries to do the right thing and who drives the plot, but isn't written to just be a male character played by a female. Anna, who is really the star of the movie, is a great female lead. Everything she shows makes a likeable and yet strong lead character. Strength, of course, not equating to physical ability (Anna's not the best at that stuff, but that makes most people like her more), but more to her drive, her beliefs and how she goes about them. I've argued before, off this blog mainly, that my biggest bug bear with female characters in film and TV is either making them useless and a damsel or making them 'strong' by making them both flawless and physically violent, never to be touched and never to show any flaws. A strong, determined female lead who also can show vulnerability is something I appreciate, and something we definitely see in the lead character.
Tangled, by comparison, seems a lot shallower. The story is actually rife for an adaptation that has deep meaning, a sheltered girl heads out in to the world for the first time, but this film plays it mostly straight. It works as something of a celebration of innocence over cynicism (Rapunzel wins over just about everybody but her evil step mother through her pure naivety, sweetness and innocence while Flynn Rider's cynicism and sarcasm only ever makes things worse), and perhaps you could accomplish a meta-textual reading suggesting that is a defence of Disney's approach to film in general, but it's not really something as in your face as 'Let It Go' is for.. well, whatever you choose to believe it represents.
However, the characterisation is strong in this film too. Rapunzel, easily the archetypical damsel in distress in fairy tales, here is recast as excitable, naïve but capable. Her reason for never leaving her tower isn't because she can't escape it, but because at first she has loyalty to the person she believes is her mother, and then secondly because she doesn't know where to go. Flynn Rider is not her rescuer, but a man black mailed in to being her tour guide. And Flynn, despite being shown to be quick witted, funny and physically capable, quite literally never successfully solves a situation without Rapunzel's help. He never wins a fight, none of his plans ever pan out and he's constantly rescued by Rapunzel herself. If you read a summary of the film, it's easy to imagine Rapunzel in the typical Disney princess role, with Flynn as the heroic lead, but in truth, it's nearly the opposite. And even when Rapunzel is eventually 'kidnapped' at the end (returned to her mother, and even then that's because she hasn't quite worked out she's evil yet, something she does figure out on her own once she's back), so is Flynn, and he needs to be rescued before he can go and rescue her. And when he does... he fails and actually gets killed.
Good work, Prince Charming.
He makes a final heroic sacrifice, of course (cutting off Rapunzel's magic hair), but it's the type of sacrifice you might see the damsel make in a more traditional movie. The roles still feel inverted, despite Flynn's traditionally 'heroic' tendencies (he's the classic quick witted thief). Frozen, of course, also famously inverts Disney stereotypes, with the reveal of the true villain being entirely based on essentially mocking Disney's old 'love at first sight' stereotypes. And it's worth pointing out neither film accepts 'marriage just after having met' as an acceptable ending. Flynn and Rapunzel marry after 'years and years of asking' and Kristoff and Anna only just share their first kiss at the end of the movie.
But Frozen also has drawbacks that I feel Tangled doesn't. Firstly, its humour is worn much more on its sleeve, it's less witty and sarcastic and more earnest and slapstick, and in doing so, there's few laugh out loud moments. Those that do come come from Olaf the Snowman, the traditional comedy sidekick who, unfortunately, also manages to be a little irritating. He's used sparingly and a good example of a decent comedy sidekick, but you can't help but feel he detracts a little from the seriousness of some situations. He gets some genuinely very very funny bits, but his overall presence tends to make the film feel much more childish than it needs to be (and yes, I am aware I'm talking about Disney films).
Tangled also has funny characters, but they're approached in a slightly different way. Most of the comedy comes from Flynn Rider himself, who is of course also one of the leads, and is in the form of wit and sarcasm. It's amusing, often because it references what the audience is thinking, but also fits in to the universe without being quite so distracting. The sword fighting horse that follows him on the other hand is as absurd as it sounds, but since the characters all treat him seriously, it actually works without disruption somewhat better. Early scenes do tend to rely on slapstick a little as well, but they're so brutally harsh on the character (poor Flynn should be very, very dead in the first twenty minutes of this movie) they're not quite standard affairs.
Ultimately though, I end up thinking of characterisation. And while I've praised Anna's characterisation, the rest of the Frozen cast suffer. Kristoff, the love interest, is a hard working nice guy with a level of wit, but he's not exceptionally interesting. And Elsa, as I've said before, is problematic. Character design would have you believe she becomes a liberated, perhaps flirtatious, free spirit, but she's written to remain as stoic, formal and responsible as ever. She never lightens up, not really, and so remains the stiff, responsible older sister in contrast to what they seem to want with the visuals.
Put out of your head for a moment what you know of the film, and look at this image:
That look doesn't fit the character. And the rest just appear bland. In fact, if you compare the DVD covers of the films, you can see the problem.
Frozen gives us:
Tangled gives us:
And I think it shows why I prefer the characters in Tangled.
Ultimately, both are good Disney films, and I'm glad modern Disney is providing decent films for children these days. And I've put far more thought in to these than I ever imagined I would (I blame Kerry and cosplaying the characters), and I'm still not sold on the best. I think I lean towards Tangled for the characters, but they are both legitimately good movies. And if I ever have to think about them in this much detail again, I might just change my mind.
For now though, that's my conclusion. Tomorrow, video games or something to try and restore some of my non-existent credibility.
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